we're invincible, remember?
by queerstarks
Summary: Time moves slowly for Tony. He remembers when he used to think time moved too quickly, back before his online best friend, Bruce, disappeared from his Skype contacts list when they were twelve. Now he just wants everything to be over and done with. Until he sees a familiar face the start of his senior year of high school.
1. Chapter 1

A tap of his finger and Tony hears the calming sound of the Skype call tune, Bruce's name on the screen. He leans back in his chair with his legs crossed and waits patiently for the other boy to answer. When he does, Tony leans forward again with a beaming smile plastered to his face. "Hey, Bruce!" He taps his desktop excitedly, scanning his friend's face for any sign of physical damage. He usually has a black eye or a bruised jaw. The kids at school pick on him for being smarter than everyone else, he'd told Tony. Tony had believed him without a second thought. This time, however, Bruce's face appears to be free of any injuries. In fact, it's Tony with the injury. A broken arm. "How come you haven't been answering my calls?"

Bruce scratches the back of his neck, smiling almost nervously. "I, uh, got grounded for a week. Dad found me trying to sneak my Game Boy to school, so… no computer or Game Boy for a week."  
Tony gives Bruce a sympathetic look. "Man, that sucks. But at least it was only a week, right? You got your Game Boy back and stuff?"

"Yeah," Bruce nods. "I'm glad about that. There's almost nothing to do around here."

"I don't like Ohio," Tony says. "It's too flat. I don't know how you can live there."

"I want to move to New York," Bruce says with a smile. Tony grins. "It seems a lot more fun. And I'd get to see you! Well, depending on what part we'd move to. Hopefully it would be close." Bruce laughs softly. "But we're not moving there."

Tony shrugs. "Maybe someday!" He sets his chin on his hand. "So you got your Game Boy back, the computer, and you don't look all beat up! Sounds like a good day for you."

"I guess so," Bruce says. "I can't say the same for you, though. What happened to your arm?"

"I broke it trying to climb the rock wall at school," Tony says. "I got higher than anyone else and then I fell. I was so close to the top, Bruce! I gotta get there. I'm gonna try again tomorrow."

Bruce casts Tony an apprehensive look. "I don't think it's such a good idea for you to climb it again with a broken arm."

"So what if I broke my arm? I'm still doing it." Tony grins and Bruce sighs, rolling his eyes. There's the tiniest hint of an amused smile on his face, though, so Tony knows he's in the clear.

"I hope one of the teachers takes you down before you can try," Bruce says. "I really don't want you to die."

"Pfft," Tony snorts, "I'm not gonna die. Maybe break a few bones, but definitely not gonna die. I'm invincible, and so are you."

Tony sees Bruce's face fall at that and he wonders what he said wrong. "I sure hope you're right about that."

The solemn tone to Bruce's voice makes Tony uncomfortable, so he quickly attempts to change the subject. "Hey, how long's it been since we played SciFiPlague together?"

Bruce brightens at the change of topic. "At least a month," he says. "Why? Do you wanna play again?"

"Heck yeah I do," Tony nods. "Remember when we met on there? I thought you were such a dick."

"Tony!" Bruce hisses. "Don't say that, my dad might hear!"

"Sorry, sorry," Tony chuckles. "But you were. You kept trying to mug me!"

"Yeah, and you chased me down to try and get your stuff back," Bruce laughs. "I thought you were crazy." The endeared smile on his face makes Tony smile even wider. Bruce can always make him smile no matter what.

"I almost killed you," Tony recalls. "And look how far we've come! We're best friends now. Sure, we're hundreds of miles away from each other, but we're best friends."

"We sure are," Bruce says, nodding. "Do you have it pulled up yet?"

"Yeah," Tony says. "Let's make sure not to die, okay?"

"Hey, we got nothing to worry about, remember?" Bruce grins. "We're invincible."


	2. salty pepper and the new kid

Time moves slowly for Tony. He's tried everything he could possibly think of to make time move faster, but God, it's impossible. He's eighteen fucking years old and he's ready to be done with it. He shouldn't be eighteen and still in high school. He knows this. But skipping grades had never seemed appealing to him and when he'd been asked if he wanted to skip a few grades, Tony had wanted time to move slowly. He'd wanted everything to take as long as it could to get to where it needed to be because he didn't have a care in the world.

Ever since he and Bruce lost contact when they were twelve, time seemed to have come to complete stand-still. He hated it. He absolutely loathed it and he still does. Sure, he likes his girlfriend Pepper a whole lot, more than any other person he's ever dated or slept with, but he's tired of time moving too slow for him and too fast for everyone else. He wants to be on their levels.

"Tony, babe, you okay?" Pepper gently shakes Tony's shoulder, shaking him out of his daze. She casts him a look of concern.

Tony blinks a few times to clear his mind of muddled thoughts and smiles a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes at her. "Yeah, Peps, I'm fine. Just thinking."

"When are you not thinking?" Pepper chuckles.

Glancing down at her paper, Tony raises an eyebrow and taps the empty notebook page. "Well, I'd venture to suggest that you were thinking, too. Doesn't surprise me. You're mind's too beautiful to sit still. Wanna tell me why you weren't taking down notes?"

Pepper sighs, thumbing the tip of her pen. Tony carefully reaches over and take it out of her hand before she can manage to make any more pen marks on the pad of her thumb. He pokes her arm with the cap end. "Come on, tell me what's goin' on up there. It's gotta be good for you to act like this."

Pepper offers a small smile, rolling her eyes. "I don't know, really," she says. "I just... There's a new boy in another one of our classes, and—"

"Don't tell me you have a crush on him," Tony interrupts. "Because if that's the case, you do realize that I'm going to have to have a nice little chat with him, right?"

"Tony, stop it!" Pepper gently elbows his own elbow. "I don't have a crush on him. The opposite, actually. He's... I dunno, he's so quiet and withdrawn and sometimes I see him making this face at other students, like— Like he's angry at them, Tony. Even when they're not doing anything to him. And I have gym class with him, too. He never takes off his sweatshirts or hoodies. He just kinda closes himself off. It kinda creeps me out."

Tony purses his lips, staring at Pepper. "So you're telling me that you've been sitting here thinking about how much this kid creeps you out." He taps Pepper's pen against his lips, raising an eyebrow in question yet again.

Pepper blinks. "No, no— Well, okay, I mean, sort of. But mainly just how he must be treated at home to make him so withdrawn, y'know?"

"Ahh, there's the Pepper I know!" Tony smiles. "You may not like him, but you're worried about him." With a satisfied sigh, Tony leans back and puts his hands behind his head. "Also, how come I haven't noticed anyone new in any either of our classes together?"

"He _just_ moved here recently, I guess. Yesterday was his first day here and you were absent."

Tony nods. "Oh, okay. Well, anyway, at least I don't have to worry about any competition."

Pepper snorts. "You? Having competition? Never. It's not like there are any nicer boys at this school." The sarcasm dripping from her voice makes Tony quirk an amused smile.

"Do I sense a hint of sarcasm, my dear?" He leans over to tuck a lock of hair behind Pepper's ear, watching as she ducks her head with a smile of her own.

"You could stand to be a little nicer to certain people." Pepper glances over at a blonde boy, and Tony groans.

"Oh, my _God_ , Peps," he rolls his eyes. "Seriously? Steve 'I'm shitting American Pride out my ass' Rogers? How can I be nice to him when he's constantly up on his high fucking horse and won't come down?"

"Sounds a little like someone else I know," Pepper says. She stares pointedly at Tony and he feels his look of aggravation melt into one of modest guilt.

"I'm not conceited," he protests haughtily, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Never said you were," Pepper says with a shrug. "All I'm saying is that you two have something in common; pigheadedness. You both have to be right all the time and you know that can't happen, Tony. Yes, you're smarter than him when it comes to this stuff." She gestures to the whiteboard at the front of the classroom. "But he seems to be a little bit smarter than you when it comes to moral decisions."

Tony's sure that if he keeps rolling his eyes they're going to roll right out of his head. "So what? I still have decent morals."

"Tony, last week you said that you would be grateful if your father drank himself into a coma."

Tony flinches. "Come on, you know I didn't mean that."

"A person with better morals wouldn't have said it in the first place," Pepper says, and Tony knows she's right. But he won't admit it.

"Well, just because he might have better morals than me doesn't mean I have to be nice to him," Tony says. "I'll start being my usual chipper self around him when he decides to stop acting like he's got an entire flag pole shoved up his ass."

"Great," Pepper sighs. "Now that I've got all that out of my system, do you want to help me with these equations? I'm starting to think I made a mistake taking Honors Algebra."

Tony chuckles. "No, you didn't," he scoots over to look at Pepper's algebra book. "You're _too_ smart for this class, if anything. You just need to focus more."

Pepper traces a finger on Tony's wrist and he melts just a little. "Stop flattering me and help me figure this out."

Tony looks at Pepper and he wonders how the smartest girl in school fell for a dunce like him.

Two classes later and Tony is walking into AP Physics about five minutes late, having been to the bathroom to procrastinate going to class and to attempt to think of some kind of excuse to get him out of school early today. He opens the door to the classroom and watches as all pairs of eyes turn toward him.

All except one.

Ah, that must be the new boy Pepper was talking about. He's sat rather close to the door so even under his mop of curly brown hair and his glasses, Tony can still see his eyes glued to the notebook in front of him. Tony briefly wonders why something about him strikes him as familiar, when the teacher speaks.

"Tony Stark," she says as she makes her way over to her desk, presumably to mark him down as tardy. Tony sees the new boy's eyes widen just the slightest bit and flicker over to him, his head barely turning. Yeah, there's something scarily familiar about this boy. When he sees that Tony is making eye contact with him, the boy immediately reverts his eyes back to his notebook. Tony decides he'll approach him later. "That's one too many tardies, Tony. Detention after school tomorrow in Mr. Coraci's room. Don't be late."

Tony groans, taking the slip of paper from her and dragging his feet over to the seat next to Pepper. He sits down with a huff. "Hey, sweet cheeks," he whispers.

"Nice job," Pepper whispers back. "It's a good thing we didn't have plans tomorrow or else I would've killed you."

"I don't doubt it," Tony chuckles. He glances back at the new kid again. "So, is that him? The one you said creeped you out?"

Pepper nods.

"Do you know his name?"

"No, I can't remember what she called him during attendance. I think it started with a B?"

"Mr. Stark, Miss Potts, I feel that I've been very generous allowing you two to sit next to each other," their teacher says, and Tony looks at her with an expression of mock interest. "Please don't make me regret that."

"We would never!" Tony says exaggeratedly. "Pepper, please, stop making me look bad in front of the new kid."

The class collectively giggles and Tony feels eyes on his back. When he glances back, the boy has already looked back down at his paper with a red face. Tony feels a pang of guilt.

Pepper shoves a hand over Tony's mouth and smiles in embarrassment at the teacher. "We're sorry, Miss Anne. We'll be quiet. _Both_ of us." She glares pointedly at Tony and Tony puts his hands up in surrender.

"Thank you, Pepper," Miss Anne says. "Now, Mr. Banner, can you tell me what equation we would use to solve problem number twelve?"

 _Banner? Is that-_

"Um, E equals F over Q, Miss Anne."

Oh, it _is_ the new kid. Huh. He's got such a soft voice. Soft voice, soft face, soft hair (or at least as far as Tony can see), soft everything. Tony wonders why that is.

(Conditioner.)

Pepper wasn't kidding about the guy being withdrawn. Tony shrugs.

"Well, his last name starts with B," Tony snickers. Pepper elbows him.

"If you wanna get in trouble again, keep talking," she says, her voice barely above a whisper. Tony sits back with a sigh and stares up at the teacher, her voice droning on and on about how to figure out what the strength of an electric field is, his hands restlessly picking at the lint on his pants.

It's not that Tony doesn't like listening to the teachers in this school talk about things he already knows, it's just that… Actually, scratch that. That's _exactly_ what it is. He wishes he could mute them but, unfortunately, the only way of doing that would be to somehow burst his eardrums. He decides he won't do that because he'd miss the sound of Pepper's voice. Even if she's scolding him ninety-nine percent of the time.

He finds that _not_ looking back at the new kid is quite the task for him and his intense curiosity. He might just be looking for some kind of distraction from the idiocy that's taking place at the front of the classroom. Or he could be genuinely wondering what this boy's deal is and why he seems so goddamn familiar. Either way, Tony wishes that he had a seat angled more towards Banner so he could see him without having to obnoxiously whip his head around. Maybe he's just seen him around town a couple times? Then again, Banner doesn't seem like the type to go out in public that much.

Forty minutes later and Tony is nearly jumping for joy at the sound of the bell. AP Physics being the last class of the day makes that hour drag on _forever_. Not the subject matter, just the teacher. She talks so slowly Tony's convinced her diet consists of molasses and only molasses.

Tony takes this opportunity to look over at Banner, but it seems that he's just as eager to get out of here as Tony is because he's shoving everything into his backpack as fast as humanly possible and booking it out of the room at mach speed. Tony doesn't even have a chance to try and make eye contact with him again. Something about the first and only time they made eye contact at the beginning of class made Banner short circuit and Tony wants to figure out why. It seems he'll have to wait for another opportunity.

"I know I said this before, but _great_ job getting yourself a detention," Pepper's voice derails his train of thought and he smirks, gently throwing an arm over her shoulders once she's got her backpack on. "You could have made it to class on time, right? Let me guess. You were trying to think of ways to get out of here early."

"See, this is why you're in all the smart classes," Tony says. "You know me so well, Pepps."

"No, you're just a see-through moron," Pepper says.

Tony runs a hand through his hair and grins. "I now have a new aesthetic. Goodbye Snarky Bad Boy Genius aesthetic, hello See-Through Moron aesthetic."

"You can't take anything seriously, can you?" Pepper shakes her head, laughing.

"Was I supposed to take that seriously?" Tony quirks an eyebrow in question. "Because I thought it was friendly banter. I'm pretty sure that's what it was."

"You think that almost any exchange between you and someone you like is friendly banter, Tony," Pepper says. "Hopefully you don't engage in any of that with Mr. Coraci tomorrow."

"Hey, he likes me!"

"He _tolerates_ you, babe," Pepper gives Tony a pitiful look. "There's a difference. And if you don't want any more detentions any time soon, you'll do what he says."

Tony sighs in resignation, once again knowing that Pepper is right. He hates that she's always right. Occasionally, Tony will find that he's _amazingly_ correct about something and he won't stop thinking about it for at least a week afterward. That's how often Pepper is right and Tony is so painfully, painfully wrong.

One day, he thinks. One day he will once again be right.


End file.
